This invention relates to telephone apparatus of the touch tone dial type and, more particularly, to telephone apparatus which can execute a plurality of functions without increasing the number of dial keys.
With prior art telephone apparatus, an abbreviated dialling function or re-dial function can be obtained by using a "*" Key or "#" key among the keys provided on the usual keyboard as an abbreviated dialing key thereby providing an abbreviated dialling key or a re-dial key on the keyboard. For example, by operating two number keys after operating a "*" key, a telephone number, which has been stored in a memory in advance, is read out and sent to a repeater station. Also, by operating a "#" key, a telephone number keyed in advance is read out from the memory and sent out to the repeater station. However, in order to provide for various additional functions beyond the abbreviated dialling and re-dialling mentioned above, it is necessary to add new keys to the existing keys on the keyboard. In addition, in using the existing "*" and "#" keys as special keys, although these keys can provide an instruction for reading out data stored in memory, the instruction itself is not sent out as a manual dial signal to the repeater station. Therefore, although it would have been possible to add various functions to the telephone apparatus if signals produced by operating the "*" and "#" keys were sent out as manual dial data, this could not have been realized with the prior art apparatus. Furthermore, the prior art telephone apparatus produces a dual tone multifrequency signal when the asterisk "*" key or the number "#" key is operated.
Further, there is another function which has hitherto been desired, namely effecting a plurality of successive abbreviated dialling operations. For example, it may be desired to make a phone call from a point A in New York City, N.Y. to a point B in California. In such a case, if there is a company E which possesses an exclusive telephone line betweeen a point C in New York City and a point D in California, it is convenient for the telephone subscriber at point A to conclude a contract with the company E for use of the exclusive line. If this is realized, the subscriber at point A can directly obtain communication with the called party at point B without need of waiting despite any state of congestion of communication. In this case, it is necessary for the subscriber (caller) at point A to dial first the telephone number of the company E at point C, then the telephone number of the company at point D and then the telephone number of the called party at point B in California. To dial a plurality of telephone numbers in succession in the above way is considerably troublesome. In such a case, it would be convenient if the dialing could be completed by merely depressing an abbreviated dialling key several times. However, even where the "*" key is used as an abbreviated dialling key in the prior art, the function of sending out a plurality of telephone numbers in succession by operating this key several times has not been provided.